


Extras from "Empty With You"

by akamine_chan, Jiksa



Series: Empty With You [3]
Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Fanart, Fanmix, Graphics, M/M, Mood Board, soundtrack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 01:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12924471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiksa/pseuds/Jiksa
Summary: During the long process of writing this story, Jiksa and I used music and images to help build our world.





	Extras from "Empty With You"

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Empty With You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12290232) by [akamine_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan), [Jiksa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiksa/pseuds/Jiksa). 



> This post is image heavy, so I made the images 'thumbnails.' To see any of them at full size, right click and choose view image/view image in new tab. From that, you should be able to click for a full-sized image.

So, first things first. This story was written for the Bandom Big Bang challenge, and as such, we received two lovely fanworks to go with the story. These were: beautiful [art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12359952) by [starrymellie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrymellie/pseuds/starrymellie) and a haunting [fanmix](https://corruptedkid.tumblr.com/post/166408199977/half-a-fanmix-for-empty-with-you-casual-affair) from [corruptedkid](https://corruptedkid.tumblr.com/). These two talented people spent a lot of time and effort to create their works, so please take the time to comment. They deserve all the kudos.

And now, onto the extras.

## Art

It turns out that [@venomwolves](http://venomwolves.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr felt inspired enough to create a gorgeous art piece, which you can find [here](http://venomwolves.tumblr.com/post/175210349923/62418-inspired-by-empty-with-you-by-akaminechan). Look at all the little details: Frank’s Chucks, the Fender guitar headstock, the bricks on the wall, Frank’s rolled up cuffs on his jeans, the blue-purple lighting on stage. The drum kit (you can almost make out the “Gerard Way and the Disasters” on the kick drum. The lettering of the song lyrics. The puddle on the street and the gap between the buildings. All of this just adds so much nuance to the art. So much love for @venomwolves for such a beautiful piece.

## Headers

While we were writing the story, Jiksa decided that she was in the mood to play with Photoshop and made these absolutely gorgeous headers.

  
  


## Soundtrack

Early on, music was instrumental (ha!) in setting the mood and background for the story. We started with a few songs, and our playlist grew to encompass 20 songs that really define the feel of the story. The songs are in roughly the order that we added them but don't create a linear narrative to the story.

  
Download [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsps0o1iumld4wc/ewy.zip?dl=0).  


Track listing:

01 - Empty With You - The Used  
02 - Bloodstream - Stateless  
03 - Dig Up Her Bones (Acoustic) - Michale Graves  
04 - Turn Up The Faders - Nathan Asher and the Infantry  
05 - Uprising - Muse  
06 - Slow Dancing - Lucero  
07 - I've Never Broken A Bone - Jamie Knox  
08 - Crazy In Love (Live at the Metropole) - Antony and the Johnsons  
09 - Roll Away The Stone - where is my spaceship  
10 - Sail - AWOLNATION  
11 - Walking Dead - Z-Trip  
12 - Death Rattle - No Devotion  
13 - 3rd Ave - Reggie and the Full Effect  
14 - Afraid - The Neighbourhood  
15 - Cemetery - Headstones  
16 - I Thought You Were My Boyfriend - The Magnetic Fields  
17 - God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters - Moby  
18 - I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen  
19 - Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd  
20 - You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones  
  


The first six songs are the ones that were the foundation of this soundtrack.

_Empty With You_ is where the title comes from. It's a great song by the Used, and the lines are a punch of feelings: 

_You could be empty_  
_And I can be right here empty with you_  
_Or you could be hollow_  
_And I can be right here hollow with you_  
_If you wanna say goodbye to everything_  
_I could say goodbye, too_  
_And I could be right here empty with you_  


I was at work and listening to this, thinking about the story and I realized that here was the perfect title. It fits so well with two people who are incomplete, and yet, manage to be incomplete _together_.

_Bloodstream_ is one of Jiksa's favorite songs for inspiration, and it's a pretty good reflection of what Gerard and Frank experience in the story, just feeling subsumed by all these emotions about another person - want and longing and feeling them deep in your blood and your bones.

_Dig Up Your Bones_ and _Uprising_ are the two songs that Jiksa thought would be most the Gerard as a DIY solo musician in our story. I love the original Misfits version of _Dig Up Your Bones_ , but this acoustic version really works for me.

_Turn Up The Faders_ is such an amazingly complex song, one of my favorites, and there are so many lyrics that just struck a chord with this story, like:

_So come on turn up the faders,_  
_Sooner or later bring the beat in,_  
_I need it, I wanna feel it_  


and 

_I'm in the backroom, drunk,_  
_The stars cut chunks out of the darkness._  
_It's a portrait of the young artist,_  
_As another target market,_  
_Playing dumb in the club,_  
_And using liquor as a tourniquet,_  
_Lets succumb to our desires,_  
_Or we'll become just like our fathers,_  
_Bang into each other_  
_Until the lights smother us_  
_And we go under_  


and

_Here's to all the new beginnings,_  
_We never got back from._  
_Never go home,_  
_Never go home,_  
_Never go home alone._  


Lucero's _Slow Dancing_ was another of Jiksa's contributions to our soundtrack, with Ben Nichol's rough, growly singing:

_Smoking the cigarettes more than I should_  
_My hands won't stop shaking and that can't be good_  
_I would forget you if only I could_  
_Think about anything else_  


Some other notable tracks.

Bruce Springsteen's _I'm On Fire_ has been a song that's haunted me for years. Especially the lines:  
  
_Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull_  
_And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my soul_  
_At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet_  
_And a freight train running through the middle of my head_  


For Gerard and Frank, it's not lust, but the desire for connection and belonging.

_Wish You Were Here_ is probably my favorite Pink Floyd song, and even after more than forty years (!), it's still a relevant exploration of love and loss.

_You Can't Always Get What You Want_ is such a explicit statement of one of the driving themes of this story:  
  
_You can't always get what you want_  
_But if you try sometimes you just might find_  
_You get what you need_  


## Mood Board

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


## Magazine article

Before the story had progressed very far, I created this little article as a bit of background for DIY Brooklyn musician!Gerard. (right click-view image to embiggen)

  



End file.
